Divisional Play

[Coff]

After last night's debacle I was particularly fed up with the fact that once again the Redskins laid an egg against a divisional opponent. It feels like the team simply cannot win games against the division and that we play better against non-divisional opponents than against divisional opponents. I checked out the stats to ensure I wasn't just imagining it. Here's what I found:

This decade, the Redskins winning % against non-divisional opponents is .505 (48-47), while their winning % against divisional opponents is .349 (22-41). That's a rather large difference. Furthermore, only once this decade have the Skins had a winning record against the division (2005, 5-1), while in half of the seasons this decade the Skins have finished with one win or less against divisional opponents (2005, 1-5; 2003, 1-5; 2004, 1-5; 2006, 1-5; 2009, 0-5). The worst the Skins have fared outside of the division during the entire decade is 4-6.

I don't think I need to express how frustrating this is and that every Skins fan in the nation would desperately wish to have these numbers reversed. But what explains the difference? Why are the Redskins above .500 outside of the division but significantly below .500 within it? Is it simply a matter of playing in a much tougher division, or does it say something deeper about the culture of the team and its ability to step up in games that matter more?